How Can Romney Win? GOP Women Have Some Ideas

To get to the White House, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will need to win over women voters.

Steven Senne
/ AP

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GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney will spend the next seven months convincing us to send him to the White House. To get there, he'll have to make a strong case to one very important voting bloc: women.

A poll out this week by ABC and the Washington Post shows President Obama with a 19-point lead over Romney with women voters. For Romney to win, he's got to make a significant dent in that margin.

In 2008, there were 10 million more women voters than men. Those voters backed President Obama over Republican John McCain by a 13-point margin. So this election season, what does the GOP need to do in order to win back women voters?

A Perception Problem

This week, NPR asked women in Jackson, Miss., — older women, younger women, single and married — about who they plan to vote for in November and which party best represents the interests of women.

"Probably the Democrats," says Debbie Rankin, a Republican who's supporting Mitt Romney. "They're much more liberal, and it is what it is."

Independent Holly Smith, who is backing Barack Obama, says she doesn't really like the way the Republican Party is handling women's issues.

"With the personhood stuff and abortions back on the table ... I feel like we're past that," Smith says. "I feel like they're focusing on the wrong things and it's really turning me off."

That Republican perception problem is something many GOP leaders are trying to fight. Wyoming Rep. Cynthia Lummis, a Republican and co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, tells weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz that she is very concerned, and that there are things more important than contraception issues this election.

"[It] has no place in the 2012 presidential debate when we are ... trillions in debt," Lummis says. "To make issues like contraception dominate news and people's attention really detracts from the real issues in this campaign, and I think really do hurt Republican candidates."

The focus for Mitt Romney, Lummis says, should be on debt, the deficit, jobs and the economy. She says he especially needs to target independent women in swing states, where President Obama's campaign is also focusing attention.

Winning 'Wal-Mart Women'

Ever since the 1992 presidential election, more women have voted for the Democrat than the Republican presidential candidate. GOP strategists believe the key to winning is to narrow the gap.

According to Republican strategist Linda DiVall, the group that could most help Mitt Romney is one she calls "Wal-Mart women." This would be women with a high school diploma and a household income under $50,000.

DiVall's research has shown that these women are most likely to focus on jobs and gas prices. She tells NPR's Raz that they have probably made some significant sacrifices over the past few years, shop at bargain stores, clip coupons and do whatever they can to stay afloat and take care of their families.

"I do believe that Gov. Romney can be competitive with that group and has a very strong opportunity to appeal to them," DiVall says. "The question for them is: Do you want to continue along this path, or do you think you can do better by making a change for president?"

Though the Republican Party believes in a limited role for government, she says the position many male Republican politicians take on contraception issues and abortion runs counter to that, and could create a problem for them this election season.

"They appear to want to dictate what a woman should do with her life," she says. "I think the Republicans ... [have] probably received a rather significant wake-up call to be a little bit more careful with their words. Again, the overwhelming focus is on the economy and getting America moving back in the right direction."

Improving The Message For Black Women

At both party conventions this summer, expect to see a lot of women front and center. This includes Florida's Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, the first African-American elected to statewide office there.

So why are black women like Carroll still so rare in the Republican Party? Carroll isn't sure. If you talk to African-American families, she says, they tend to think conservatively.

"From religious values and moral compass and economics and education, they fall right in line with conservative principals," she says. Those issues can get lost on the political stage, however.

"I think we get so much into the partisanship and the divide and the demonizing of character ... that we go away from really understanding the policies and the issues and we go off course, which is unfortunate," Carroll tells NPR's Raz.

In order to do better among black women voters, Carroll says Republicans need to improve their message and tell them how GOP policies have benefited women and created more opportunities for equality.

Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Transcript

GUY RAZ, HOST:

Now, back to our cover story. Two men will now spend the next seven months convincing us to send one of them to the White House. And to get there or to stay there, they'll have to make their strongest case to women.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Every decision made by those of us in public life impacts women just as much as men. In this report - you all have - explains some of what we've done to try to lift up the lives of women and girls in this country.

MITT ROMNEY: The real war on women is being waged by the president's failed economic policies.

RAZ: A poll out this week by ABC and the Washington Post shows President Obama with a 19-point lead over Mitt Romney with women voters. Now, last time around, there were 10 million more women voters than men. And those voters, they backed President Obama over John McCain by a 13-point margin. So for Romney to win this time around, he's got to make a significant dent in that margin. That's our cover story today: the GOP women, and the strategy to win them back.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

RAZ: This week, we asked women in Jackson, Mississippi - older women, younger women, single and married - about who they plan to vote for in November and which party best represents the interests of women. Here's a sample from two Republicans, Donna Mayfield(ph) and Debbie Rankin; and an independent, Holly Smith. This is who they're backing.

DONNA MAYFIELD: Romney.

DEBBIE RANKIN: Lesser of the two evils? Romney.

HOLLY SMITH: Definitely Barack Obama.

RAZ: But ask those same women which party they believe best represents women...

MAYFIELD: Um, probably Obama.

RAZ: The Democratic Party?

MAYFIELD: Yeah.

RANKIN: Probably the Democrats.

RAZ: Why?

RANKIN: They're much more liberal, and I think that it just what it is.

RAZ: Even though you're a Republican, you think Democrats would represent women's issues better.

RANKIN: Probably so.

SMITH: I don't really like the way the Republican Party is handling the women's issues currently, you know, with the personhood stuff and abortions back on the table. And I just - I feel like we're past that, you know? I'm a women, I should have a right to have control over my body. And, you know, I feel like those issues have already been decided with Roe v. Wade, and I feel like they're focusing on the wrong things, and it's really turning me off.

RAZ: And that Republican perception problem is something many GOP leaders are trying to fight. Here's Wyoming Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis. She is the co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues.

REP. CYNTHIA LUMMIS: I am concerned about that perception, Guy, because the Democrats really have taken advantage of those issues in matters such as the Georgetown law student who raised issues along with the president about contraception issues. My gosh, those have no place in the 2012 presidential debate when we are $15.5 trillion in debt, when we borrow money from China and Japan to finance our very government. So to make issues like contraception dominate news and people's attention really detracts from the real issues in this campaign, and I think really do hurt Republican candidates.

So I think it's very important that Mitt Romney get right back on track with debt-deficit jobs in the economy and focus on women, particularly independent women in swing states. That's who President Obama has been going after because he knows they're going to decide this election, and that's where Mitt Romney needs to center his attention as well.

RAZ: It's going to be a tough fight admittedly?

LUMMIS: Oh, admittedly. And never was an election in my lifetime more important than this one. I firmly believe that if we don't get a handle on debt-deficit jobs in the economy right now that America's ability to recover is in jeopardy.

RAZ: Well, Congresswoman Lummis, thank you so much.

LUMMIS: My pleasure, Guy.

RAZ: Now, ever since the 1992 presidential election, more women have voted for the Democrat than the Republican. So GOP strategists believe the key to winning is to narrow the gap. And according to Republican pollster Linda DiVall, the group that could most help Mitt Romney is one she calls Wal-Mart women. Women with a high school degree and a household income under $50,000. Her research shows that these women are most likely to focus on jobs and gas prices.

LINDA DIVALL: They've made some rather significant sacrifices over the last four years. They probably have given up a landline, they shop at Wal-Mart or Costco or Target, clip coupons, take advantage of bargains. They're probably a high school graduate or less, dealing with a lot of stress in terms of whether their husband might lose a job or they themselves might lose a job or their benefit. And they are scrambling to try to protect their kids and just stay afloat.

RAZ: And this is a group that you believe Mitt Romney can capture.

DIVALL: I do believe that Governor Romney can be competitive with that group and has a very strong opportunity to appeal to them once he communicates that he understands their daily concerns and frustrations. I mean, I think the question for them is: Do you want to continue along this path, or do you think that you can do better by making a change for president?

RAZ: What do you make of this notion that there is a perception problem right now with Republicans because of the issue of birth control, because of some legislation that's passed in states controlled by Republican legislatures dealing with restrictions on abortion and definitions of personhood? I mean, do you think those are going to be a problem for Republicans in the fall, not just the president but also for congressional Republicans?

DIVALL: Those issues and some of the positions that Republican candidates and comments they have taken do indeed create problems because the Republican Party, on the one hand, says we believe in a limited role for government. And then on the other hand, many Republican male politicians appear to want to dictate what a woman should do with her life. So I think there's a very real problem there.

Having said that, I think Republicans and the Republican Party in general has, you know, probably received a rather significant wake-up call to be a little bit more careful with their words. And again, the overwhelming focus is on the economy and getting America moving back in the right direction. And I think that is where economic policies and making people feel a little bit optimistic about the future if we adopt the right policies is the right direction to go.

RAZ: Republican pollster Linda DiVall. Now, at both party conventions this summer, expect to see a lot of women front and center, including perhaps Florida's Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll. She's the first African-American elected to statewide office there. And now, the highest-ranking woman in elected office who is both black and Republican. But why are women like Jennifer Carroll still so rare in the Republican Party?

LT. GOV. JENNIFER CARROLL: You know, I don't know. Because when you look back at the history of African-Americans, we tend to think conservatively. And when you ask and poll African-American families, they will line up as a Republican. And it stuns them when they see that from religious values and moral compass and economics and education, they fall right in line with the conservative principles.

But I think we get so much into the partisanship and the divide and the demonizing of character and demonizing of a person that we go away from really understanding the policies and the issues and we go off course, which is unfortunate.

RAZ: How do you think Republicans can do better among women of color? What do they have to start doing?

CARROLL: They have to start saying the message and telling the facts with regards to whether it's homeownership, employment, job education, skill set, what were the policies that are the policies of Republicans and how that has benefited women throughout, whether it's braking the glass ceiling, creating opportunities for equality in the workplace.

RAZ: That's Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll. She's a rising Republican star and the first female lieutenant governor of Florida as well as the first African-American elected to statewide office in Florida. Lieutenant Governor, thank you so much.

CARROLL: Thanks, Guy, for having me.

RAZ: By the way, up until 1988, it was Republican presidential nominees who regularly outpolled the Democrats with women. In 1984, Ronald Reagan trounced Walter Mondale with women voters by 12 percentage points. Coming up on the program, rating teachers by test scores, but does it tell us anything about how they teach? That's in a moment on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.